Sue Desmond-Hellmann, the CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was drawn to one particular item in President Donald Trump’s proposed budget – the massive cuts to foreign aid. The Trump budget proposed cutting the combined budget of the State Department and USAID by 28 percent, with a big chunk of that expected to come from foreign aid (http://politi.co/2tq4BCW), which makes up less than 1 percent of the U.S.’s budget. Desmond-Hellmann says she is concerned that if the cuts came into fruition, it could stymie the progress of the world’s largest philanthropic organizations to eradicate diseases like polio and promote family planning for women.

“The reason I’m concerned is – from where I sit and given the background I have – it is really extraordinary how much progress global health, global development has had as a result of America’s leadership,” the scientist-turned-philanthropic chief told Playbook. “That’s the focus I have, making sure we don’t hamper progress and that we continue with that progress.”

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PRIVATE PHILANTHROPY CAN’T COVER THE CUTS:

“Globally in 2016, there was $37.6 billion in development assistance for health all over the world. Of that $37.6 billion, the United States provided $12.8 billion and the U.K. contributed $4.1 billion. We’re the largest private philanthropy in the world, we contributed $2.9 billion. ... Private philanthropy will never make up for the important contributions that governments -- like the government of the United States and the government of the U.K. – provide for that kind of global health and global development assistance.”

FOREIGN AID BENEFITS THE U.S.:

“You call it foreign aid and it feels like it goes far away. But one of the things that brought this close to home is the 2014 Ebola outbreak. … The kind of work that organizations like the WHO, the CDC in the U.S. do on pandemic preparedness … is such a good reminder of how much an outbreak anywhere is a health threat everywhere. In 2014 Americans were deeply scared and nervous about Ebola.

CUTS COULD THREATEN HIV/AIDS FUNDING:

“America and PEPFAR [President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief] are literally known around the world. PEPFAR provides life saving medicine – HIV/AIDs therapy – for more than 11 million people who are living with HIV. In countries when PEPFAR has a presence, we actually know between 2004 and 2014, there was a 40 percent drop in political instability. In non-PEPFAR countries, political instability dropped only 3 percent. PEPFAR countries grew three times faster. It’s good for American businesses and it is good for the world economy.”

FRIENDS ON THE HILL:

“We’re heartened by members of Congress. A lot of members of Congress have spoken up in their support of these foreign aid programs and many members of Congress have actually seen for themselves how powerful the U.S. is – soft power.”